The Astroni Crater in Agnano, part
of the Fuorigrotta suburbs of Naples, has been a protected
nature preserve since 1987. The site is administered by
the Campanian Institute of the Ministry for the
Environment and the WWF (World Wildlife Foundation). The
Astroni Crater is now one of the official dozen or so WWF
Oases in the Campania region of Italy, and that makes me
very happy because I remember when it was not.

The crater is smack in the middle of what has historically
been one of the most volcanic areas in Italy. The Astroni
crater was formed by a secondary eruption well after the
cataclysmic Flegrean Caldera
collapse of some 40,000 years ago (also known as the
Campanian Ignimbrite Eruption). There are 30 such later,
secondary craters in the immediate area; the Astroni
crater is one of the largest.

The
floor of the crater covers about 250 hectares (617 acres),
and the circumference of the rim is about 6.5 km. The
space within the crater is less of a floor than it is
three small hills, really--Imperatrice, Rotondella, and
Pagliaroni. The SW part of the space is, however, flat and
has three bodies of standing water, the largest of which
is called, naturally, the Great Lake (photo, above). The
crater hosts a large variety of flora and of migratory as
well as local fowl plus a smaller variety of local mammals
such as the fox, hedgehog and weasel, There are about 15
km of marked nature trails with explanatory documentation
along the way to explain the flora and fauna.

The site was well-known even to the Romans, who
situated thermal baths in the area. The entire area,
including the adjacent Lake Agnano
(now dry) was disrupted severely in the 1500s by the
emergence of Monte Nuovo
(New Mountain!) on the coast near Baia.
The Astroni again became prominent under the Aragonese rule of the kingdom
of Naples when Alfonso I chose it as the site of a Royal
Hunting reserve in 1452 in honor of a visit by emperor
Frederick III. It served in that capacity through a few
changes of dynasty; then, under the Bourbons of Naples, the Astroni
was one of 22 Royal Sites, a term used to describe
everything from the large Royal Palaces such as the main
one in Naples or Caserta all the way down to the small
"casina," the hunting lodge, such as the one in the
Astroni or in Persano in the Cilento. The Astroni still
hosts what is left of the Royal Bourbon Hunting Lodge, the
"casina." I saw it many years ago and it was a shambles,
but I am hoping that the WWF and Ministry for the
Environment had a few euros left after saving all the
ducks. Indeed, I now learn that in 2011, a contract was
awarded for the restoration of the Bourbon Hunting Lodge!
(We shall see.)

A "Bourbon Royal Site" was a piece of
property that was considered the personal possession
of the king or of some member of the royal family.
There were 22 such sites in the Bourbon Kingdom of
Naples; some were palaces, others were villas, and
some were casine (singular: casina),
hunting grounds centered around a lodge, the casina.
Some of these hunting grounds were sumptuous (see
Persano, for example below); others were less so.
The complete list:

The
most interesting architectural feature of the Astroni
crater is that is surrounded by a wall! Originally it was
put there to keep poachers away from the royal game. It is
still partially intact and has at least a few holes in it.
I have climbed through some of them, but not to poach
royal game. I think I was jogging and decided to run
around the perimeter.

Finally, there is no unanimity on the etymology of the
name "Astroni." They're all good choices: (1) from Sturnis
or, in Italian, storni, the starling, from the
abundance of that bird in the area (at least once upon a
time!); (2) from the name of an abundant fern that grew in
the area and was mentioned by Pliny; (3) from the name,
Sterope, one of the cyclops in Greek mythology who lived
here; (4) from strioni or stregone (wizard
or sorcerer), held in popular legend to have performed
their magical rites in the crater; (5) from Aironi
the heron, once abundant in the area, and the local
dialect name of which is struni. I have no idea,
but my sentimental money is on the witches.

Many thanks to St.
Selene (patron saint of researchers) for her assistance!